


Offer Me Comfort And I'll Trip Over My Feet Running To You

by smallprotector



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Angst, Canon Era, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, In a way, Kind and caring Courfeyrac, Marius needs more hugs, Marius will do many things for hugs, Poor Marius, Self Harm, Touch-Starved, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 03:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10454166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallprotector/pseuds/smallprotector
Summary: Courfeyrac tends to Marius whenever he is clumsy and injures himself. Marius would do anything for the gentle care Courfeyrac shows him.





	

Marius had a friend, and it was wonderful. Courfeyrac didn't merely tolerate him, he supported him. And for the first time in his life, Marius felt as if someone genuinely cared about him for himself, not because of his ancestry or money. And Marius couldn't have been happier with Courfeyrac being his friend, since he was so kind, caring and funny. Of course, Marius was generally aware of how unbalanced the relationship between them was, what with Courfeyrac being the beautiful human being he is and Marius being, well, Marius- awkward, clumsy and the sort of boy girls laugh at. He knew that he was being selfish when he took up too much of Courfeyrac's time, but when he felt particularly desperate, he just can't seem to help himself.

 

It started with an accident, the type Marius was used to having constantly, for although he was nowhere near as all-encompassing unlucky as L'Aigle, he has always been prone to harming himself in minor ways which exasperated his Grandfather no end when he was too young to take care of himself without needing someone else's assistance. However, nowadays he generally cared for any injures he managed to cause himself without anyone's knowledge. But one day, as he was bandaging his foot, which he had dropped a vase on earlier, a voice drifted from the doorway, making its owners presence known.

"Marius, I was just at the Musain talking to Grantaire, and you wouldn't believe the outrageous stories he- Marius, oh sweet heavens, why is your foot bleeding?"

 

Marius looked down, feeling quite self-conscious as he said "Nothing to worry about my friend, I merely tripped and a vase fell on it." 

As Courfeyrac's eyes grew wider, Marius was quick to reassure him though, as he didn't want Courfeyrac upset. 

"But don't worry, it wasn't one of yours, it was one I purchased on a whim last week."

 

To Marius' bewilderment, Courfeyrac didn't look at all calmed down, and he hastened to Marius' side to inspect the wounds, before going to fetch some bandages and water, despite Marius' protestations that he was fine, truly. But Courfeyrac insisted and stayed there and helped to bandage Marius' (minor, he's had much worse) wound before bringing him to his bed although Marius could walk just fine by himself, even if it did hurt a little. But with Courfeyrac's arm around him, warming him all over somehow, he couldn't refuse.

 

And from that incident onward he noted how Courfeyrac would get close to him whenever he did something particularly stupid (like the time he spilt water over a very unimpressed Enjolras who was even less pleased to notice his notes got drenched too) or clumsy (like the time he walked into the door of his own bedroom like an dimwit, which resulted in much amusement from Courfeyrac, mixed in with tongue-clucking and a hug, which Marius had enjoyed more than he had any right to). Although these episodes of stupidity on his part had negative effects also, from the pure pain of injury to the shame of having Enjolras so mad at him for being an imbecile, the attention he got from Courfeyrac after them was always worth it.

In fact, Marius began ensuring that any small accident he might have would end more seriously than it would otherwise. It took a bit of work to supress his natural urge to catch himself with his hands when he tripped or to not step onto broken shards of things he’d broken, but once Courfeyrac was tending to him it never seemed like a mistake. 

However, Marius was starting to worry that one day his smaller bumps and scrapes would soon no longer worry Courfeyrac- after all, it wasn’t as if any of them were very damaging to him, and Courfeyrac was a busy man. 

So before long, Marius knew he had to do something more drastic. 

As he stood at the top of the stairs to their shared rooms, Marius took a deep breath. He had to do this. He hadn’t been injured in two weeks, and he’s missed Courfeyrac’s gentle fussing. He was certain he had to do this now. He closed his eyes, his face scrunched up in determination.

And then he let himself fall forward. 

But just as he was launching himself towards the steps, a familiar voice rang out from below him.

“Marius!”

Damnation.

And with that single word in his thoughts, he tumbled down the stairs, allowing his arms to reach forward to catch his fall. The world blurred around him as he fell and fell, his outstretched arm hitting something as he reached the ground, pain blossoming from it. Usually he would feel a sense of satisfaction at an injury that would so clearly need tending to, but now the feeling of dread that had dawned upon him after he’d heard Courfeyrac’s voice was sitting heavy in his stomach, making the pain in his arm even worse. 

“Oh my sweet lord, are you alright? Did you get hurt? Marius- what were you doing?”

With every word Courfeyrac spoke, his voice got louder and higher, until it cracked on the last two words. Marius ducked his head, reluctant to look at his friend whom he’d clearly worried so much.

“I- My arm. It hurts.”

It was all he could say. But it seemed like enough. All at once, Courfeyrac was gathering him up, inspecting his arm as gently as possible and sitting him upright.

“Well this will bruise rather badly but if we bandage it and you are careful it should be alright. Now let’s go back to the rooms. You and I need to have a little chat.”

And with those words, Marius knew he’d been found out. This was the last time Courfeyrac would take care of him like this. Now Courfeyrac knew it was all Marius’ own doing, that he’d deceived him into showing so much affection when Marius had never deserved it. 

As they made their way back, Courfeyrac had his arm around Marius’ waist and Marius never wanted the walk to end. Never wanted it all to end. 

But end it did. 

Courfeyrac sat Marius down on the chair and fetched some old cloths to use as bandages, focusing intensely on his task. Marius tried to enjoy the sensation but felt as though there was a lump in his throat and like his palms might dissolve with how much they were sweating. Finally, when Courfeyrac was done, he kneeled up in front of Marius, taking his uninjured hand, and speaking as soothingly as he knew how.

“I saw you going down those stairs. You didn’t fall. Is something he matter with you? Are you succumbing to melancholy? Is there some way I can help you? I know you’ve been getting into scrapes more often lately- have you been doing that purposefully too?”

Marius decided then he could no longer lie to his first and truest friend. 

“Not at first.”

“But why, Marius? I don’t understand. You’ve been harming yourself- why?”

Marius’ face burnt with shame. This was it. Now he would have to confess the truth. 

“Because you always take care of me when I’m hurt.”

“I- what. Marius. Oh Marius.”

And with that, Courfeyrac embraced him fiercely, holding him as close as possible. Marius couldn’t hold back the tears that started leaking from his eyes and the sobs that tore through his bruised body. Despite them he fought to get words out.

“You- you always do things like this when I’m h-hurt. It’s, I, I like it. I’m so sorry.”

With every word, he expected Courfeyrac to release him, to cast him away and accuse him of all sorts of things. But it seemed like they just made him cling tighter.

“Oh no. Oh Marius. I’m so, so sorry.”

What? None of this made sense. This wasn’t how Courfeyrac was supposed to react, with soft words and kind touches. Had he not understood Marius properly? He sat up, disentangling himself from the warm arms around him, and forced himself to look Courfeyrac in the eye.

“I’ve been lying to you. I made sure my injuries were worse than they should have been so you would be affectionate towards you. I’m sorry for deceiving you like that. I know I’ve been taking advantage of your generosity, and-”

“It’s alright.”

“How can it be? You know what I’ve been doing now.”

“And I’m sorry you felt the need to do that.”

“What? I fear I just don’t understand you.”

“My dear friend- if you wanted me to comfort you, you don’t have to harm yourself for that! I know it’s- slightly awkward, as it were, to ask for such a thing. But I promise you I would much rather you do that that suffer for my attention!”

Marius felt as though reality as he knew it was shifting. He could just ask Courfeyrac for his kindness? He didn’t have to be in pain to deserve it? 

“I know this might be hard for you. What if we come up with some sign, some small secret code the others needn’t know about? Would that be easier for you?”

It was All Marius could do to nod, and take it all in as Courfeyrac so blithely talked about something Marius daren’t even have dreamed of earlier. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have a friend like Courfeyrac. And perhaps he could allow himself to be selfish for just a little while longer, he thought as Courfeyrac embraced him again. After all, he didn’t seem to mind it in the slightest.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are very appriciated! I'm on tumblr as wanttodrawmothsfrommemory, come say hi :D Look out for the other rarepair/gen fics I'll be posting this week, I've set myself a little challenge :) feel free to suggest anything you'D like to see :D 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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